Valentine's Specials
by ShadowDianne
Summary: Like "Pumpkin specials" a recolection of Swan Queen Saint Valentine's prompts. Rating can vary from one one shot to another.
1. Chapter 1

A/N So! Like I did with Halloween I plan to hold a series of prompts that have Valentine's Day as the main connector between them. If you ever want to send me some prompts with this you either can do through here or through tumblr (shadowdianne) The first one is by thegardensofthemoon who is more or less responsible for my decision to do this once again.

Original prompt: "Can you do something with Take my breath away by Berlin Valentine based?"

PS: This is also the final sequel of "Goodbye" in case anyone was wondering what the hell has happened here. This one shot will be the only one linked to that story but if you haven't read that one I would suggest to take a look in it. To the ones that loved the idea without this however can perfectly well keep that fic like that.

Disclaimer: They aren't mine.

…Still anticipating love

It was strange being at the other side of the barrier after all that time, feeling magic caressing her insides. It was strange the pull that she kept feeling on her right hand, the line that had slowly disappeared after she had taken out her ring once she had crossed Storybrooke's frontier appearing once again, almost as if she had never have left.

It was an illusion though, and she still could remember that much magic to know that it was only a manifestation, the embodiment of the reason why she had finally decided to step in, clutching her heart with one final swallow and closing her eyes, her car doing the rest.

It was still strange, almost painful, the way everything seemed so eerily familiar. She almost could taste on her mouth the sensation she had once felt and suffered the first time she had crossed unknowingly that barrier with a Henry that she still could wrap her arms around him without feeling that she had already grown old. Magic and time, a time that almost seemed to be holding its breath in the same way she did; the first and final curve approaching slowly but surely in front of her, the forest framing the entrance of the town, the first buildings welcoming her with slowly fading brown colors.

She clutched the wheel between her hands, the borders of her vision clouding with tears, abashing thoughts coming back, the look of those brown eyes looking at her from her mind's eye. So strangely similar to their other mother, so much she had wondered more than once if Henry wasn't at the end the biological son of the former Queen instead of hers.

He had just looked at her once they had arrived to the university, a look of tiredness covering his normally bright disposition. He was on his final year, he would soon be nothing like the boy she had once met. But some things never changed and when Henry had looked at her only one word had escaped his mouth.

"Go"

She didn't ask what he meant; the two of them knew that after all those years, after Emma's attempt of running, after the faded love, she still cared deeply of that other woman who had loved so fiercely she had become the villain of a story that wasn't just anything but twisted words of her own prolonged fate. She hadn't needed to think twice, she had just nodded and turned, igniting the car's engine and not daring to look back or cry in front of her son, remorse and regret grazing her throat.

She had loved Regina, she had adored her even before she still could grasp her head around the idea of her being anything else than a simple friend to her. She had been ecstatic the day they had married and devastated the day she had believed she didn't love her anymore.

She didn't have an explanation, nor even a word to say, but as she had driven towards the barrier she still knew by heart she had realized that she really didn't care about words, just the burning sensation that Regina, and perhaps herself, deserved a conversation that hadn't been there the first time she had go.

And perhaps…

Perhaps.

Emma exhaled and turned, trying to look ahead and not pay attention to the ones that started to look at her from both sides of the road, magic vibrating, growing, almost scorching her from inside.

She was late, she knew that, she was already far too late for anything, she really didn't have a reason to be there, a reason to even try to make Regina talk. She didn't deserve it.

And still, still the old tales of what the two of them could have done resonated inside of her. She had loved, she had lost, she had found, she had fallen in love. She had become a person that she had once loathed and she had grown out of that persona only to find herself alone.

She didn't have anything else to offer but she still wanted to try it. Perhaps because, even if she still was a real person, a flesh and bones character who hadn't had the opportunity to live its prewritten life, she had learnt about forgiveness and chances, about love and quests that sometimes didn't need to be explained, just felt.

And so, as the young girl she had been once, full of hope and yet almost vibrating with remorse, she parked the car in front of the mansion she had left all those years ago, thinking she would never be there again, thinking she would never have the option, thinking she would never be needed there.

And she knocked the door, holding her breath, smiling when brown open eyes looked at her once the door opened, perfect red lips opening in surprise, a flash of hurt coming in sharp quiet waves from that body she had once known as well as her own.

She still loved her, far too much, she still anticipated the moment that sensation of warmth and hope filled her stomach whenever she thought about her, she still cared for her, even if she tried to think otherwise.

She couldn't really say anything, she didn't have the answers, nor even the words. But she still muttered a soft "Hi" that made the two of them tremble, the promise of something else hiding behind those words, taking their breaths away.

Regina raised her left hand, caressed Emma's face and nodded just once.

Emma licked her lips.

"Hi" The brunette finally replied.

And Emma smiled.


	2. Chapter 2

_Original prompt:E and R are in college's frehsman year and barely together, this is going to be their first Valentine but neither of them knows how important (or not, your choice) this day is for them. Little angst, fluffines._

A/N So if anyone wants to send me a prompt feel free to do it through here or via tumblr, I will be answering them until the 15th!

So let it be what it'll be

Emma played with the ribbon on her hands that was tied around the little chocolate box she had managed to pick up on her way to the dorms. The red and brown shiny box shone with the last sunrays of the afternoon as she kept walking, here and there couples and groups surrounding, her, the wind carrying conversations she barely even tried to understand.

The day had been humid, a sense of a slowly forming storm above the campus floating in the air on the way the strayed cats that seemed to live in the campus permanently kept moving from one place to another, fur frizzy and nervous purring all the blonde saw once she managed to arrive at the door of the dorms. The building, overused, looked back at her, silently, ominous.

The blonde sighed and smiled without realizing, the image of Regina receiving the gift making her nervousness to momentarily disappear, the warm smile the brunette had showed she was able to produce over the past six months making her feel sure about herself. Even though she didn't know if she was right on her decision on bringing her such a present.

Six months, the blonde caressed the box once again, knowing that to anyone who looked on her direction it would look silly and more than a little strange the way she kept looking at it, almost as she feared that it would walk away from her.

But for Emma both the box and who was destined to mattered even more than what she would be able to express. And not because Regina was definitely the most beautiful girl on her campus-And she had had a discussion with Ruby about it- but because of how she had woken up the night before only to find Ruby looking at her over her papers while muttering something that had seemed to be "You know tomorrow is Valentine's day, right?"

And in that moment, in that second, she had realized that she indeed cared for the day, not because of what it was but because of what it could represent, for both Regina and her. A day she hadn't even think about it twice before.

The plastic on the box stuck on her digits, covered by sweat now as she breathed in as slowly as possible before actually entering in the building, lips parted, tongue peeking between them.

Would Regina care about Valentine's Day? Would she consider Emma silly for even buying her such a stupid little gift? She hadn't been able to pick anything better for the brunette, nothing special that is and in the walk between the shop and the dorms she had had plenty of time to wish she was able to read thoughts, to do magic, to make the other woman as happy as she could make her.

Six months.

It was only six months, a rather short romance, an even shorter story but one Emma was still exhilarated to explore. Mary Margaret had always told her that she would know once she founded someone worth having on her life. She had scoffed at the woman's naïve believe but the day she had crossed paths with Regina she had been unable to think on anything else, not even on Neal, who had still plagued her memories whenever she had tried to start dating once again months before under the worried gaze of Ruby. Regina had bring something with her, something that didn't erase Neal's presence but made her smile and sigh, made her want to believe on the fairy tales Mary Margaret had told her hundreds of times.

Perhaps a stupid thought, a young one, she thought as she walked towards the elevator's doors. Perhaps not enough for anyone else, but Regina had been amazing from day one; witty, sarcastic, funny, beautiful… and so even if it was just a little plastic box with a few chocolates on it she wanted to try it, just in case, just because.

The door of the brunette's dormitory was closed, as always, and the silence at the other side told Emma that the brunette's roommate, Kathryn, was still probably out with her own boyfriend. _And what was she? A girlfriend?_ Labels had been complicated for her, and for Regina.

Taking a big gulp she knocked on the door, wanting, hoping, to really find Regina inside. And at the same time not.

The brunette chocolate brown eyes looked at her, the door finally open, showing her the figure she had discovered to adore, pupils framed in those dark glasses Emma had found them irresistible over those months with finals and exams and too much coffee and papers back when they had tried to study at the library. Smile on her lips the woman's stare only stopped on the box between her hands a second, a moment stolen in time, before kissing her, warm and soft, a promise of something that made Emma's entire body to hum.

"Happy valentine's day" She found herself muttering when Regina stopped, her lips grazing against the brunette's, still humid and soft, so so soft….

"Happy valentine's day" The brunette replied, and Emma saw the glimpse of an equally little chocolate box waiting for her inside on top of the other woman's bed. A lame, maybe poor gift, but their nonetheless. And that was what made her smile before kissing the brunette for a second time, this time closing the door behind her, the sound of a soft thud barely registering on her brain as her own box fell.

It didn't matter though, Regina had her, and she never seemed to want to let her go.


	3. Chapter 3

Prompt: "I may have been admiring you not so secretly."

Asked by: Italymystery-swanqueen via tumblr

A/N Hi there people, and hey I don't bite! I would really appreciate to know your opinions regarding the little one shots! ^^ And thank you AngieSashaMariskafan8101972, I will post and write your prompt probably tomorrow ;)

When you know there's so much more within

One single red rose, that was what awaited Emma Friday afternoon once she entered through the door, about to start her last shift on the station; a long stem rose that shone under the pale –almost white-light that seeped from the half opened windows, poodles of light growing under her feet wherever she dared to look, rose on her right hand, a frown on her face.

It didn't have an attached note, a ribbon, something she could distinguish where it came from and yet there was something that made her shudder once she placed the flower back on her desk, between her unfinished papers, exactly where she had found it.

It could be from Hook, she reasoned as she seated on her chair, grateful that David wasn't supposed to come until night, when he would appear for his shift. The rose had moved something inside of her and she didn't feel ready to be open about it with her father. Or with anyone else.

Hook, however, she muttered, returning to her thoughts, didn't seem to have such delicate ideas of how to treat her, and after their break up, one that had been painful but needed as she had realized back in the underworld, the pirate had sulkily lived in one of Granny's rooms, rum and rudeness the only thing that came out of him in rapid and far too much concentrated waves.

Who could be then? She though, sighing as she eyed the rose once again, touching one of the petals that had fallen when she had picked it up, the softness of it making her smile. Neal could have definitely send that to her, he had always known what kind of gestures Emma still adored even if she tried to pretend that they didn't. However, Neal was death, his ghost already accepted his demise long before they had made out to the other world. He couldn't be the culprit and even if his name still left her with an ashen feeling on the back of her mouth she nodded, glad to realize that that particular wound seemed to keep slowly healing itself.

Her train of thoughts were interrupted by a sudden message that made her mobile to chirp, one single sentence awaiting on her screen. "Backdoor"

As a firm the message ended with the symbol of a red rose, the emoji looking strangely real for a second before she blinked that thought away. Swallowing, she looked at her hands, one of them still sporting the scar of yet another fight against the last evil in town who had appeared one month ago; Facilier. It was still far too soon for another problem, she tried to reassure herself. And she didn't feel any threat coming either from the rose or for the message so she stood, walking towards the long corridor that would led her to the alley the backdoor of the station opened to.

She felt nervousness on the pit of her stomach when she forced the door open, the smell of dust and rain hitting her nostrils, pale light making her green eyes to narrow, her pupils growing slowly accustomed to the natural and slowly dimming light of the place after a few minutes, a sensation of expectancy growing on her throat as she waited. Which wasn't very long.

To be fair with herself, she admitted the second none other but Regina Mills appeared in front of her between a purple mist of magic that licked her own boots, a second rose between her fingers, the same expectant look on her eyes, she had wondered if that could have been possible, if something as easy as a rose could come from the regal woman. Taking into account the slow, confused frown, that started to grow on top of the brunette's eyes she realized that no, it wasn't.

"I received a message" The former queen said, her voice deep, alluring as ever but holding a soft tone Emma hadn't heard on her since the day they had exited Hell's mouth and had found themselves looking at each other in that strong, scorching way that had make her insides split and turn, gyrating into something that had seemed like a truth they had been almost too close to discover what it was.

"I did too" She answered, smiling sheepishly and pointing at her phone, the rose on the message glowing one final time before the smell of magic and the sound of a child-like laugh resounded on the alley.

She turned to her right, catching a shadow moving forward, the sound of wings and a glimpse of a human-like figure the last thing she saw before she turned, waiting for Regina to say something, to direct her, to tell her what was going on. The brunette woman, however, was eyeing her own rose, a tired and yet happy look on her eyes, glee almost seeping between the remorseful and sad feelings that had seemed to be taken a hold on her since Emma's parents had broken that shared glance on top of Hell's entrance with a few well-placed words Emma didn't seem to remember anymore.

"I may have been admiring you not so secretly."

The words were out but whispered and although Emma heard them she felt numbness, fearing that what she had heard wasn't real, wasn't directed at her. Mouth dry she wetted her lips, green eyes looking at Regina, the shadow the other woman projected over the floor seeming to shrink as the former queen took a step back, directing her gaze towards her, full of that same something she had seen on her far too many times to remember how many.

"Regina?" She asked, but she didn't need an explanation, not really, not when there was magic floating around them, a link that had been there, that had steadily been growing, that had kept them together even when everything had seemed to be about to come apart.

The brunette didn't answer and it was the simplicity of the way she eyed her, the way it all made her thought on that day on the city border, on that day on Camelot, on that day on Neverland on all those days, all those years, what made her take a step forward.

They didn't kiss, there wasn't a spark, there wasn't a flash of light and a sudden realization, it was just a hug, a chaste soft kiss on each other's cheeks, the welcome they had been waiting since they had looked at each other and had admitted their will of being friends, the tension of the lie that lied within, the truth of the desire they harbored for the other.

"I may have too"


	4. Chapter 4

Prompt could you do one with them using melted chocolate on each other? Asked by AngieSashaMariskafan8101972

A/N Yup! I hope you like this! Thank you for your comments over this series ;)

To the troll that keep appearing on my reviews; find a hobby :*

Bring me up, bring me down

Pants could be heard on the already far too hot room, the suffocating smell of magic and sex rising from the two bodies that laid on the floor, a few inches away from the unmade bed, dark sheets barely holding themselves anymore on the position they were supposed to be, hanging by a thread of a corner from the mattress.

Regina smirked, looking at the immobilized blonde below her, green eyes grinning wildly with both hunger and curiosity, usually pale pink lips colored now by the bright red lipstick the former queen had been sporting before Emma and she had entered in the bedroom, night already growing closer at the other side of the window. With a growl, Emma tried to lunge forward, her magical restrains making the move impossible, her lean muscles bulging ever so slightly as she tried to reach the brunette's breasts, so close and yet so tantalizingly far from her she almost whimpered when the older woman's left hand caressed exactly the spot she had been thrumming with the possibility to lick and taste.

With a growl of her own and a mumbled moan just in case Regina parted her lips, wetting them in the process and letting out a satisfied yelp when Emma's body arched between her legs, her sex, drenched after hours of lovemaking making the blonde shudder with the promise of yet another orgasm.

"Wait" Regina said, lowering her hand from her own breast.

The word, breathy and almost waggish made Emma bare her teeth, feeling the invisible cord that had been around her hands for more than ten minutes already constrict her movements even more, a mix of fear and excitement making her close her eyes, her eyelids painfully shut, her own uncovered chest tingling when Regina's hand started to caress it, short yet well-kept nails grazing her nipples, a moan escaping her throat as she felt them.

"I don't want to" Emma replied, cocky smile ghostling over her face. Regina arched an eyebrow and snapped her fingers together while keeping the blonde's restrains firmly set where they were supposed to.

"Believe me dear" The former queen replied, eyes ablaze, "You will"

It was just a drop of magic in the already charged room but the way it made Emma react, a muffled scream when she felt her sex being stimulated once again, was the final push before Regina actually convoked what she had been wanting to use, half ripped clothes aside.

Emma's green irises widened when she felt a hot trickle caress her chest, drawing a complicated pattern she wasn't able to discern. The scent of chocolate reached her nostrils, the decadent aftertaste of black chocolate filling her mind's eye, making her gulp, desiring to be able to lick it, to taste it in the same way she suddenly realized she was soon enough going be eaten by the queen herself.

"Regina…" She moaned, unsure if she wanted to stop or keep with the far too slow torture the older woman was creating, her neck hurting when she bent it, looking at the magical appearing chocolate that, indeed, was creating circles upon circles on top of her breasts, Regina's eyes followed every movement of the brown trail, a smirk quirking her lips, the shadows that the dimming sun created on her curvaceous body making Emma to groan softly, needing, wanting, to touch.

"Wait" The former queen replied, a softly murmured word that Emma listened this time, closing her eyes, thought she battled slightly against the cords just to make the other woman known she didn't want to wait, not anymore.

The hot chocolate kept being poured by Regina's magic for a few more minutes, the drawing now lowering itself, caressing, trickling, Emma's taut bellybutton, reaching, staining where Regina's own thighs were.

With a satisfied smirk the brunette snapped her fingers for a second time, chocolate stopping. The last drops that trickled over Emma's body rolled down the blonde's skin, coming awfully close to Regina's own pulsing sex.

"Happy Valentine dear" The brunette whispered before lowering, biting the blonde's nipple before starting to lick.

The blonde's answer was lost on yet another moan, Regina's own chuckle thrumming against the now sticky skin which glowed, asking for more.


	5. Chapter 5

"Being with you is not a mistake" asked by italymystery-swanqueen via tumblr

On se consume, on renaît

There was no light when Regina opened up her eyelids, the closed curtains helping to filter the even weak shimmer that could be painting lightly Storybrooke's, otherwise, dark roads with promises of light grey. Sighing and turning away, the brunette woman tried to close her eyes and lull her mind back to sleep, knowing that she still had an hour before she was supposed to be up. Her pupils, however, refused to rest and so she stared at the darkness in the room once again, sleep still nagging the back of her mind but already scurrying away, leaving behind another sigh, this time resigned.

Staring at the slowly less blurry room the former queen bit her bottom lip, remembering briefly the nightmare that has woken her up. It had been years since she had let something as dreams take a hold on her but now, after mere months of their trip to Hell, there was still the feverish fear that had existed inside of her the whole time they had been there; dread, corrupted magic, floating around their group as they had descended into Hades' reign.

The brunette shook her head, returning to the present and taking a hold of her thoughts; they were there, alive, and as her eyes finally focused on Emma's tranquil face another word appeared on her mind; together.

When Hades had questioned them their decision of following the savior without even looking back, Regina had stood proudly from where she had been standing, blazing eyes and tight smile on her lips, the memories of her nightmares, the loss that had taken her heart the moment Emma had opened Granny's door and had stared at them returning back to her. She had thought twice on taking a step forward, the answer enough for Hades, and apparently, for herself too.

Emma had remained silent that time but when they had finally returned, gaping hole in the middle of Storybrooke slowly closing, she had turned and looked at Regina, green eyes making the former queen to raise her chin, refusing to look at anything else but Emma's face.

"Did you mean it?" The blonde had asked, and Regina had only been able to whisper a soft yes before finding herself being kissed by the blonde, tears and promises that no one else really understood pouring from Emma.

It hadn't been perfect but Regina hadn't minded since it had been their moment, however rushed that could have been.

Which still left her to wonder every now and then about Emma, about the look that had passed between the two idiots, their son and both men, the ones they had theoretically gave everything up for. Those had been the looks of ones who didn't understood why, who didn't see the reason. And truthfully Regina didn't quite see it either. Wasn't quite sure that there wasn't even one, one that could make sense that is; she had only realized, knew it, even before she fully understood what that meant.

And so she was, she chuckled mirthlessly, caressing Emma's soft skin and marveling on how her heart thrummed whenever she saw the blonde being able to sleep.

 _I had almost forgotten what it felt like_

The words had been whispered by an awed woman after their first time together, one that had been filled with murmurs and explanations that neither of them were sure how to express but they understood anyway. And Regina had ached and had cried that night, not out of fear, but out of something so deeply engraved inside of her she had had problems recognizing it as the primordial feeling she had felt the first time she had seen the younger woman. Something that had morphed and grew, roots firmly set.

"There are tales that will never get told" She had muttered that night, long before late had started to get a new meaning on the clock and Emma had smirked that tired smile of hers, magic still oozing in lazy intervals out of her fingers, white magic claiming back what darkness had taken from her.

"I don't want to share our story with anyone else" The blonde had finally replied "Not for now anyway"

And Regina had understood, of course she had get it. But that didn't mean that it was easy to listen to the murmurs and vile words the pirate and some of the dwarves kept throwing at her whenever they knew she could hear them. And she had been a queen and such petty things weren't supposed to wound her but it still ached and cut her and doubts still stirred inside of her some nights, when her brain was relaxed and her walls weren't quite that up.

And that's how Emma found her when she finally opened her eyes, tired pupils looking at the still caressing hand of Regina before looking at the resigned shine the brunette's own pupils hold. The look of someone that still had too many words inside of her, too many disrupted chapters to still be complete.

"Regina" The blonde whispered and the brunette sighed, a word trying to escape from her throat, tearing it down, making almost painful to keep staring ahead.

And Regina knew it was stupid, a stupid fear, a fear that came from a time she was still naïve and she still wanted to think she would have a different kind of future with a different kind of person. It wasn't fair for Emma, for her, but there it was, still there.

A mistake, a pure mistake, the woman who had found her true love and her soulmate only to turn her back away from that.

Tink had told her as much and it had been interesting how little she had mourned with that and how much she had trembled the moment she had thought that she had failed Emma, how angry she had been when she had realized that the blonde had lied to them, about her, about their reasons.

And yet…

"Regina" Emma repeated and it was scary how much the blonde could read her, how much she herself could read into that voice. "Being with you is not a mistake, I will never consider it like that"

And it was crazy, pure craziness wrapped up in lies but Regina knew better, felt better, and so she smiled

It's not perfect what they had, she knew that, but as Emma hugged her tightly, her taller frame covering hers, she felt safe, strong and just herself. And that was a path she had been walking alone for far too long.

And so she slept.


	6. Chapter 6

Fluffy with chocolate; asked by italymystery-swanqueen via tumblr

A/N This can be seen as a continuation of "So let it be what it will be" (the second chapter of this series) since, you know, chocolate. Hope you guys like it an ei, I don't bite (well, not if you don't ask me to :P) let me know your opinions with a review!

On the tip of your lips

The scattered wrappings of the chocolates laid on the rumpled bed, one smudged stain of a reminding of one of them staining one bare leg of a particular blonde who kept smiling, not bothered in the slightest by the sticky feeling of chocolate on her skin. The brunette below her paid no attention either to the state of her normally tidy room; her brunette eyes only seeing Emma's green ones, one mischievous smirk on her lips- already half covered in the treat- growing when she saw the blonde's nervous peek of one pink tongue.

"Seeing something you like?" The brunette teased as she laughed, noticing how Emma's also smudged digits were still on her neck where they had landed after feeding her one last piece of the treat. She could feel the substance on her skin but she, as tidy and clean as she normally was, paid no mind to it, only wanting to push the blonde a little bit further, see how much she could taunt her. "Em-ma?"

The blonde groaned, knowing full well that Regina was just playing with her. With a sigh and looking once again at the other woman's delicious-looking lips she closed the gap between them, effectively silencing the brunette and finally tasting the chocolate she until now had been denied.

With a moan she bite onto Regina's full bottom lip, smile appearing on her lips when a second moan was heard, one that definitely wasn't hers. A chuckle already traveling its way up her throat. She opened her eyes-which she had closed when she had finally managed to kiss and taste Regina- and locked them with the other woman's, laugh bubbling when she heard the wanting sigh that escaped Regina's lips.

"Eager?" She found herself saying, taking a break before kissing the brunette once again, her tongue sweeping the last bit of chocolate, leaving Regina's lips completely clean and slightly plump after it.

"Maybe" Was the answer, arched brows looking back at her, a stifled laugh discernible enough to make Emma roll her eyes, kissing Regina once again, noticing the way the brunette's hands played with her clothes as she did so.

Her head floated as she felt Regina moving slightly back, tightening her grip around her wrists and holding up the two offending chocolate-coated fingers, the aforementioned woman licking them clean while looking straightly at a now transfixed Emma.

"Regina…" The blonde found herself saying, a plea implicit on the way she moved her hips. Unfortunately for her Regina merely blinked mischievously and kissed her, laugh on the way her eyes danced.

"Yes?"

Emma groaned but kissed Regina back, enjoy the way the kisses kept just coming, never escalating but never stopping either, quick pecks that tasted like chocolate and Regina's lipstick.

"Who" The brunette whispered between kisses "is" "eager" "now?"

Emma could do nothing but giggle. Her hands, free once again, holding Regina in place as she tried to keep the kisses coming.

"You" She managed to say making Regina to smirk at that.

"We will see about that"

"Show me"

And it was cocky, flirty, and full with chocolate-flavored kisses, ones that remained on Emma's skin way after Regina showed her that she was the one who wanted her the most.

Because of course, the brunette was always right, always.


	7. Chapter 7

And this finalizes the series. Thank you to the ones that sent me these prompts. Catch you later on following fics ;)

Thank you also to the ones that took time commenting this. You guys don't know how much I appreciate it, really.

Asked by anon via tumblr: It'd be nice if you could write sq with 'don't dream it's over' by crowded house

And I'm counting the steps

Regina didn't realize she was crying until she heard Henry's voice at her side, the boy looking straightly ahead, furrowed brows and rivulets of tears streaming down his cheeks.

The forest surrounding Storybrooke seemed to be drowning in a sulfurous cloud. Yellowish fog and the putrid smell of rotting magic making Regina gag as she stood, her body aching, her ears seeming about to pop. She felt the pressing need to vomit when she tried to move towards Henry, the boy already moving forward, crawling almost on his haste as the rest of the group around them opened their eyes, the gaping hole from where they had exited Hell closing slowly in the middle of the burning field they were now, the shadows of carbonized trees framing the scene.

Not that Regina paid attention to them, her brown eyes, watery and aching in that same way her mouth felt dry- her lungs constricted under the slowly settling dust that seemed to be everywhere, painting the air in greys and blacks- looking straightly at the prone form Henry approached to, scrapped knees, bloody hands, closed eyes.

A pool of blood.

She moved forward, her ringing ears never registering her name being called by Snow, the woman's confused voice turning into a scream when she also saw what Regina had already registered back when she had raised her head from the floor, her thoughts confused, her muscles protesting.

Emma, Emma in a pool of her own blood, her chest barely moving from where Regina laid.

She also didn't realize that she had approached Henry, that her clothes were half ripped, that she had lost her shoes somewhere, she didn't care on the wound she felt on her right thigh, just on the other woman's closed eyes, on the way she seemed….

She choked on the word and grabbed Henry's wrist, forcing him to look at her, her voice a booming sound that seemed to shatter the strange state they all were in.

"Is she…"

And she didn't continued because, what kind of mother would ask her son if her other mother is dead?

Snow arrived at her other side, screaming for Emma to open her eyes, the pirate slumping behind with David, a lost look on his eyes, eyes Regina hated, eyes she felt the need to pluck out with the only aid of her hands.

"Swan" She heard him say and her insides screeched, her pupils taking on the paleness of Emma's lips, on the way her cheeks seemed hollow, stained with dark blood.

 _There is always a price to pay_ Charon had said when they had crossed the Styx and Regina had sighed and had nodded because she had thought she already knew that, already knew what it would be.

"Don't move her" She barked, and her voice was weak and broken and Henry's hand below her fingertips was everything that kept her grounded. Robin was still not moving but she didn't waste a second on him, tears making impossible to look at anyone else but the blonde. "She is wounded, we don't need you to stain yourself on more blood"

"Look what the evil queen is saying to a redeemed pirate" Hook replied with a sneer, his hands already around Emma's body, making Regina want to throw a fireball at him, her head swimming on pain and disbelief.

"Shut up"

The words, spoken by Snow, made everyone on the little group to stop, the normally calm woman looking pointedly at Hook, the reminiscence of maybe another world on her eyes.

And Hook, perhaps because David also stood at the other side of Snow, gaping mouth and sorrow-filled eyes, did as he had been told.

Regina however didn't pay any attention to him, not when Emma's body called for her, her knees scraping against the hard patch of burned grass she was kneeled in, her insides about to combust.

"Emma" She whispered and she remembered the talk with Hades, the deal the blonde had made against Regina's own advice, the way they had needed to escape the god's reign when Hook had looked back.

"Emma"

It was no use, the blonde didn't move and as Henry started to scream, fighting against David who was now holding him back Regina blinked, the repulsive sense of death she had already felt once coming back at her, crawling from the depths of her mind she had locked it.

"Emma, please" She caught herself saying and she couldn't remember when she had moved but she was now closer than ever to the other woman's body, one blood-stained hand caressing the younger woman's cheek, the coldness of the skin making her want to sob.

Sob because she had lost, lost once again, lost something she hadn't realized she had it until everything it had been too late.

"You idiot" She whispered, words broken. Hook had disappeared and Snow's presence seemed to dim as she caressed Emma's head, picking up rebel tresses that kept floating and landing on the blonde's face and lips. "Why did you pay the price?"

But she already knew the answer.

Magic around them was almost visible, the power of perhaps hundreds of fairies trapped on the trees and Regina closed her eyelids, not wanting to see, just feel, feel Emma's skin, wish that those green eyes will soon be opened again by the stubborn blonde.

And she wanted to, wanted….

"Emma, open your eyes" She asked and she remembered the way the other woman had looked at her between the tendrils of darkness that had almost choke on her, realization, pain, care.

Love.

"We need you" She murmured and if she realized that both Snow and David were looking at her she didn't show. "Don't go"

 _Don't go because there are still a lot of things I would want to say._

And even if she still was able to feel the ground, Henry's body, Snow stare she only could focus on Emma, Emma who had tried, and continued even if she didn't understand what kind of world she was entering in. Emma who had fought and had destroyed walls she didn't realize that were there, Emma who had seen they were friends even before Regina saw that she cared for her, Emma who had tried, Emma who had loved and changed and lost herself and tried once again.

"Don't go yet" She asked and the words came as a plea, a plea she didn't realize she needed until she heard Henry's own sobs at her side, Snow's intake of breath. "Don't go or I will go back to Hell and…"

And.

Later on David would say that the light came before Regina kissed the blonde's lips, Snow would affirm that the light appeared just at the same time. Henry would merely shrug and smile.

Neither Robin nor Hook would say anything about it.

Regina would just sigh and close her eyes and Emma, Emma…

Emma would laugh and kiss Regina just because.

Because they hadn't let them win, they hadn't let fate take over them, they hadn't let an author write their stories and they had defeated the god of death.

Because they had moved forward and as far as they were concerned it didn't mattered when the light had appeared, just that Emma had opened her eyes. Just that.


End file.
